


Once Upon A Time

by Azei



Series: The Ghost of Eleanor Fryth [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Family Secrets, Fluff and Angst, Ghosts, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Rivalry, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff & Slytherin Inter-House Friendships, Male-Female Friendship, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:29:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27606982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azei/pseuds/Azei
Summary: A collection of short stories from various characters and what they thought of Eleanor before and after her death in 1973.A/N: These will all be relatively short, no more than a couple of hundred words giving background into some of Eleanor's relationships with people she's met and known both in life and in death. They are also updated randomly whenever I get an idea and plot into my head so more might be added at any time.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter Characters & Original Female Character(s), Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley & Original Female Character(s), Lucius Malfoy & Original Female Character(s), Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Narcissa Black Malfoy/Original Female Character(s), Severus Snape & Original Female Character(s), Ted Tonks & Original Character(s)
Series: The Ghost of Eleanor Fryth [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017081
Kudos: 12





	1. The Potions Teacher

**Author's Note:**

  * For [@leviackermansdetergentt](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40leviackermansdetergentt).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus Snape has an odd relationship with the Wandering Witch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like the idea that Snape has some sort of begrudging friendship with Eleanor, like the one she has with Lucius. Except it's more of a siblings-but-I-wont-admit-it type of relationship on Snape's end. 
> 
> I know most people have a very bad outlook on Snape and I'm not saying he's in the right, but please be objective when reading. I'm not justifying his actions at all but he is a very complex individual and I do like his character, if only in the movies because of the talented Alan Rickman, may he rest in peace.
> 
> I honestly only got the idea because of some of the behind the scenes footage they never used of Alan Rickman, in full Snape regalia, was slightly smiling and sort of joking with the gorgeous Dame Maggie Smith who plays McGonagall and well, plot bunnies appeared. 
> 
> So regardless of how to feel about Severus Snape as a whole, this is my first time writing him as a complex character and I try to capture that-but I don't know if I really succeeded or not.

* * *

Severus Snape has an odd relationship with the Wandering Witch.

The two of them weren't glued at the hip as she had been with Lucius, Narcissa and the muggle-born Ted Tonks. But they had mutual respect for one another and at times, he would call her a friend in his head.

The unusual friendship struck his first year at Hogwarts. Specifically, his fourth day in the castle. Although he hadn't been at Hogwarts long, she had stuck herself to his side the moment she overheard the malicious taunts towards him by his Gryffindor classmates. He often wonders if it was simply her kind heart or her good-standing with the Slytherin House on a whole that led her to put a stop to his tormentors the first week of classes.

By his third year, he had become well acquainted with the older girl and at times, would often walk to the kitchens with her for a midnight snack as he left the library. It had become a ritual of theirs that he found himself looking forward to whenever he ran into her late at night during her Prefect patrols. 

She would often stop James Potter and his bumbling friends from bullying him, even after that first week when he was newly sorted, and for that, she would always have his perpetual respect. Many of the other Hufflepuffs believed that while bullying was an abhorrent practice, the animosity of the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's couldn't be changed simply from them trying to stop the practice all on their lonesome.

In some regards, he could see the logic behind it. If he were thinking rationally and from an unbiased opinion, Severus knew that they were right; you couldn't solve a problem unless you fixed the root of the cause and after 1000 years of torment and animosity, the only way the Gryffindor and Slytherins would get along is if they both decided to unanimously make an effort towards that change. 

From an emotional, and very much biased opinion, Severus thought the majority of Hufflepuff was even more cowardly than a mouse and were filled with unhelpful dunderheads.

With, of course, the exception of Eleanor Fryth.

Their friendship continued even after her death as Eleanor spent most of her ghostly afterlife in the Dungeons with him or her friends in Hufflepuff. It was because of this that he learned the truth behind her death. Or in laymen's terms, the reason behind her murder.

Of all the things Severus had thought when he wondered late at night why it was that Eleanor had been murdered in that room- a love affair with Narcissa Malfoy nee Black had not been one of them.

But, as he thought back through his first years at Hogwarts and the obvious closeness that she and Black had shared, the more it made sense. The lingering touches, the lack of distance between the two of them, the shared smiles. And suddenly, her murder had made a lot more sense. 

At first, he thought it was Lucius. But then he reminds himself of the friendship they shared and quickly writes it off. Lucius was many things and though he had a temper, he wouldn't have killed one of the only people in his life who liked him for him. It only took one look in Eleanor's pale visage to confirm that theory.

As the years went by and he spiralled down an even darker path, he still found some comfort in his friend's silent support.

Then the war happened.

He became a shell of himself. The mark on his arm felt dirty to him and he spent many nights in his rooms at Hogwarts furiously scrubbing at his arm, tears dripping down his face. It made him sick to look at the poison marring his skin and shame-filled him. The year went by him and he grew more and more bitter as the mistakes he made when younger continued to blow up in his face.

The only solace he found was that Eleanor found it in herself to not judge him when he snapped at people. 

He doesn't know what that says about him or her; that they've become so unrecognizable from that wide-eyed boy who wanted to be a famous potioneer and the young woman who loved with all her heart.

How naive they had been.

* * *

She huffs in annoyance. "I know you can hear me, Severus."

From behind him, his students giggle and he sends a scathing look towards them that makes a pair of Ravenclaws trips over their robes and he bites back a harsh retort about getting one's robes properly hemmed. Already he can see Walter's potion begin to bubble over- he stirred counterclockwise five times instead of the necessary ten. And Albus wonders why he can't stand children when they can't be bothered to even try.

He ignored her remark, "Is there a reason why you're disturbing my class? You've never done so before." 

"...I heard from Pomona that he's coming next year... is it true?" her voice is soft and he curses himself for not telling her sooner. He takes a deep breath as he stirs the cauldron in front of him, adding some of the salamander's skin.

"...yes, he is. Would you like me to introduce you to him?" Eleanor doesn't respond for the next few minutes but he can wait. She deserved that much from him as sticking with him for the last twenty or so years. It was the least he could do in the grand scheme of things.

Eleanor begins to glide towards the doorway before she stops," I would like that very much...Thank you, Severus..."

He nods and she vanishes into the wall. Immediately murmurs erupt from behind him and he sighs at the incessant chatter. He removes his cauldron from the fire and whirls around, his robes flaring out in a wave of black.

"If all you can do is gossip about trivial matters not of your importance, then you should have no problem writing an essay about the bad habits of being sticking one's nose into another's business. You should find plenty of examples of that in the history of Potions; more than one blubbering idiot blew a cauldron in their faces by stealing another potion work." He hides a smirk as groans echo throughout the classroom.

Gossip wouldn't make their potions for them, after all.


	2. The Golden Trio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Golden Trio meets the Wandering Witch sneaking around after dark.

* * *

"What are you three doing out of bed?" 

A chill ran up their spine at the echoing voice. Harry turned around first, shortly followed by Ron and Hermione and as one they blinked in shock at the young ghost before them.

She couldn't have been older than eighteen years old with short, wavy hair. Dots of freckles littered her face and luminous, silver eyes peered down at them in confusion. Harry thought she was shorter than most but as she continued to float, it became harder to tell exactly how tall she was.

She wore slim robes that accented her short stature nicely, not long to make it look like she was drowning in them. Her face would have been described as graceful and lively in a way not many had but in death, her ghostly visage enhanced her ethereal features and emphasized her freckles and other features. Her arms were crossed and the engagement ring on her finger shined brightly before them.

"Uh," Harry stammered. "We were looking for the kitchens?"

The ghost beamed and waved them forwards. She glided down a staircase and the trio glanced at one another as they began to follow after the witch. The staircase they followed her down was dark but the three of them managed to make it down the stairs without tripping over their robes. As they reached the bottom, they looked around for the woman and she popped her head through a wall, scaring them.

"Sorry, it's just around the bend here!" Her head disappeared and the trio rushed forwards to catch up with her. It only took them a minute the ghost gave them a warm smile when she saw them following her.

"Excuse me miss, not to be rude but who are you? I've never seen you around before." Hermione asked, a confused look on her face.

The witch gave a short laugh, "I'm not surprised. I don't wander much anywhere. Too many memories. But you might know me from Hogwarts: A History- I made quite the stir in 1973." She scratched the back of her head as she gave a sheepish grin. They stopped in front of a painting with a bowl of fruit as the three Gryffindor's began to murmur to one another about why the date seemed familiar.

"1973?" Hermione whispered." You're th-"

"The Wandering Witch! Mum mentioned you! Blimey, I never thought she was actually right. It just seemed so far fetched." Ron abruptly interrupted.

Harry and Hermione turned to their red-haired friend in confusion. The three of them bickered with one another and the witch gave a small smile as she let the familiarity wash over her. She began to float away from the trio, unbeknownst to them, and down into the Hufflepuff common room below. The three of them didn't need her guidance anymore, after all, they were already where they wished to be.

"What you mean Ronald?"

Ron stared with a skeptical look on his face, "You mean you haven't heard? I would have thought you would be all over it Hermione!" His expression turned to confusion as he glanced around them, "Hey where'd she go?"

The other two whirled around but the ghost was nowhere in sight. Hermione huffed as Harry leaned against the wall, "Now what do we do? We're in the middle of nowhere and she left!"

Hermione glanced over at Harry when her eyes narrowed at the portrait behind him, "What are you leaning on Harry?"

"A pear I think."

* * *

The subject of the Wandering Witch wouldn't be answered until a couple of months later when in their DADA class. As class ended, Hermione pushed the boys back down onto their desks, ignoring their protests and waited expectantly for Professor Lupin to turn around. "Professor, we had a question."

"More like she had a question," Ron grumbled under his breath and Harry rolled his eyes.

Lupin looked at the three students before him with a raised brow. He crossed his arms and leaned back on his desk, feet crossing over on another as he did. "Is it related to anything we learned today in class or is it a personal question, Miss Granger?"

Hermione sat up eagerly, "What do you know about the Wandering Witch?"

The two boys behind her sat up and leaned forwards as if to better hear what their professor had to say. As if a light was switched, Lupin straightened up to his full height. He gazed at them with shrewd eyes as began to walk towards his back office and rummaged through his things. A few minutes went by before he returned with a photo album and flicked through the pages. 

"Why do you wish to know?" he questioned.

This time it was Harry who spoke," We met her the other day. We almost asked Professor Sprout but Fred and George said that would be a bad idea. We thought you might know."

Lupin sighed as he finished flicking through the album and turned it around for them to see. On the page was a picture of a family, they all had various shades of red hair and smiling faces. And on the far right was a young woman with short red hair who waved at them with a beaming smile on her face. In her arms was a young girl, no older than three years old who shared her red hair and a young teenage boy the same age as them. 

"These are the McKinnons. They were a very old Scottish pureblood family. This was gifted to me by a dear friend of mine, Marlene McKinnon. And on the far left are her cousins; Eleanor, Isaac and little Marjorie Fryth." His voice was soft as he traced one of the smiling girl's faces.

Hermione pointed eagerly at Eleanor," That's the Wandering Witch though! What happened, Professor Lupin?"

Lupin cleared his throat and his eyes seemed to dim as he talked, "In the summer of 1973, my second year, Lucius Malfoy was in a room above the Three Broomsticks on business when he heard a thump from a few rooms done the hall. He discovered Eleanor Fryth laying there, dead. She had been murdered with the Killing Curse. No one ever found out who killed her. A little over 3 months after her murder, Eleanor Fryth's ghost appeared at Hogwarts. She was confused and unable to remember what happened."

"By the time the next edition of Hogwarts: A History came out, Bathilda Bagshot had proclaimed Eleanor as the Wandering Witch. The McKinnons were up in arms over her death and rallied many of the pureblood houses into trying to find the killer. Killing a pureblood heir like that just wasn't something you did back then, especially when she hadn't even graduated yet." Lupin closed the album and set it down gently on his desk.

"To this day, I believe Lucius and his wife Narcissa still hunt for Eleanor's murderer."

Harry stared at the older man as if he had grown a third arm, "The Malfoy's? Why would they care?" Ron was nodding alongside him and Lupin gave the three of them a tight smile that came out more like a grimace than anything.

"Things were different back then- blood purity didn't matter as much in Hogwarts unless your whole family were fanatics. Lucius and Narcissa were the best of friends with Eleanor, they still donate to the fund in her name. The three of them were as close as you three are today." Lupin shook his head as the disgusted faces the three of them wore. Rolling his eyes, he made his way back to his office with the album and began to straighten things up.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as the three began to leave before warning them loudly, "But if you want to take my own advice, don't go looking for another murder mystery to solve you three. It's quite possible that Eleanor will regain her memory and tell officials. But until then, I suggest you be polite and don't mention her death." 

When no confirmation was heard, Lupin quirked an eyebrow and walked back from his office to find the classroom empty and the door swinging shut. A sigh escaped his mouth and he turned to Eleanor who walked through the wall. "How much do you want to bet that those three are looking for you right now, Ellie?"

A mischievous smile spread across the witch's face," Considering they have tried for the last three months to interrogate me..." she trailed off and Remus exhaled loudly, head hanging down as he glanced at the haphazardly thrown essays on his desk.

"I was afraid you would say that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remus knows Eleanor well enough to have a casual conversation with her. I like to imagine the two of them had late-night talks in the shrieking shack before he transformed since he can't hurt her.


	3. The Mentor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleanor Fryth meets Ted Tonks as she tries to find her way to the Great Hall for breakfast on her second day.

* * *

She was so hopelessly lost.

It was about the only thing Eleanor was sure of, to be honest. She had woken up bright and early to make her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast only to get turned around at least three times. One of those times ended up with her in front of Ravenclaw Tower and another led her out the gate towards Hogsmeade until a portrait of Phineas Black yelled at her for the fifth time about being lost on her first day.

A small sniffle escapes her at the thought- how embarrassing that she would get so lost on her first day! Gilbert and Samuell were sure to get a kick out of this one when it came out. She let out a frustrated groan and banged her head against the stone wall of the castle corridor.

"Uh, are you ok?" came a confused voice.

Whirling around, Eleanor watched bug-eyed as a slightly older boy stepped out from the shadows before her. He couldn't have been older than thirteen, 3rd year at best, and he was wearing Hufflepuff colours! She gave a sheepish smile and waved timidly.

The boy waved back, quirking an eyebrow, "Lost?" his voice was kind. Eleanor nodded held out her hand in greeting which the older boy took it without hesitance. "I'm Eleanor Fryth, but you can call me Ellie... could you maybe help me to the Great Hall?"

"Edward Tonks...but you may call me Ted," Ted repeated with a grin, one that Eleanor shared. Ted was tall for his age, with fluffy wheat coloured hair Eleanor wanted to run her fingers through and bright, shining eyes that looked gold if one weren't looking. His face was soft and features pretty, like her "...not to be rude, but just how long have you been wandering about Ellie?"

Ted was sure that if he squinted enough, he could actually see the proverbial rain cloud over the younger girls' red locks. Eleanor had a pout on her face and she crossed her arms as she began to mumble. He took a step closer unable to hear her but nothing came out of it. "You're going to have to speak up- I can't hear a word your saying."

Eleanor huffed, "I said since 5 in the morning."

The stone corridor was silent for a few moments before the barking laughter of Ted echoed loudly through her ears. She looked up with shred silver eyes to see him wiping tears from his and clutching his stomach. "I'm sorry but you mean to tell me that you've been wondering about lost for the last three hours?"

His golden eyes were twinkling as he draped an arm over her shoulders and began to move her down the hall. She sent him a glare that had him holding back snickers and her eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"It's not that funny Ted!" she shouted.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry- it's just why didn't you ask any of the portraits for help?"

She frowned, "No one would help because Headmaster Black scared them away." She looked up to see Ted nodding sagely with his eyes closed as if he knew exactly what she meant.

"That would make sense. Old Black still thinks he runs this school, but truthfully no one really likes him all that much." Eleanor nodded and the two of them walked in silence to the Great Hall together.

"Hey, Ted?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for helping me out back there." her voice was small and Ted smiled, ruffling her hair causing her to squawk out in protest. She began to swat at his offending hand and he laughed.

"Anytime, little lady. If you ever need help, don't hesitate to ask, ok Ellie?" She gave him a blinding smile.

"Okay."

* * *

"...I bet I can beat you to the Great Hall."

"You're so on!"


End file.
